In Death 05 - Ceremony in Death

head. "Let's not lose him." She glanced at her watch, hummed with satisfaction. "Just in time to make my nooner with Nadine."
    "You want to have that neck looked after. Nasty."
    "Later." She headed out, moving fast. Nadine wouldn't miss the injury. Nor, Eve thought, would the all-seeing eye of the camera.
    "What the hell happened to you?" Nadine demanded. She stopped pacing, stopped looking at her watch.
    "Little problem in Interview."
    "You cut it close, Dallas, we got two minutes before air. You don't have time to clean up."
    "Fine, we'll go like we are."
    "Get a voice and light level," Nadine told her camera operator. She took out a mirrored compact, polishing up her face when she sat. "Looks like female," she added. "Long, nasty nails, four separate grooves."
    "Yeah." Eve patted the already stained handkerchief against the wound. "Somebody was curious, they could check booking, get the data."
    Nadine's eyes went sharp. "I imagine someone could," she purred. "You didn't do anything with your hair."
    "I cut it."
    "I meant anything constructive. Coming up in thirty. Set, Suzanna?''
    The operator made a circle of forefinger and thumb. "The fresh blood shows up real good. Nice touch."
    "Gee, thanks." Eve settled back, hooked one booted foot over her knee. "Let's keep this short, Nadine. I haven't seen yours yet."
    "Here's a preview then. What local white witch is the son of infamous mass murderer David Baines Conroy, who is currently doing five separate life stretches, no parole options, in maximum lockup on Penal Station Omega?"
    "Who -- "
    "In five," Nadine said sweetly, delighted to have snagged Eve's full attention. "Four, three..." She signaled the last of the countdown with her fingers, below camera level. On cue, she stared into the camera with sober eyes. "Good afternoon, this is Nadine Furst, leading off the noon hour with an exclusive interview with homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas in her office at Cop Central..."
    Eve was prepared for the questions. She knew Nadine's style well, too well to allow herself to be rattled by the information that had been dumped on her seconds before air time. As, she imagined, Nadine had hoped. She answered briefly, carefully, and knew she was bumping up Channel 75's and Nadine's rating points with every on-the-air second.
    "The department is proceeding with the belief that the cases are connected as evidence indicates. Though different weapons were left at the scene of each murder, they are of similar style."
    "Can you describe the weapons?"
    "I can't comment on that."
    "But they were knives."
    "They were sharp instruments. I'm not at liberty to go into any more detail. Doing so would jeopardize our investigation at this point."
    "The second victim. You were pursuing him at the time of his death. Why?"
    She was ready for this, had already decided to exploit the question for her own benefit. "Thomas Wineburg had indicated he had information which would be useful to my investigation."
    "What information?"
    Zip, Eve thought, but kept her eyes level. "I'm not at liberty to divulge that. I can only say we spoke, and he became agitated and ran. I pursued."
    "And he was killed."
    "That's correct. Running didn't help him."
    Annoyed that her director indicated her time was up through her earpiece, Nadine wound the interview to a close. "And we're clear. Suzanna?" Nadine simply gestured to the door and sent her operator out. "Off the record," she began.
    "Nope. Gimme."
    "All right then." Nadine sat back, crossed her pretty legs. "Charles Forte took his mother's maiden name legally twelve years ago after his father was convicted of the ritual slayings of five people. It's believed he killed countless others, but it's never been proved. The bodies have never been found."
    "I know the story behind Conroy. I didn't know he had a kid."
    "That was kept locked. Privacy Act. The family was already out of it. The mother had divorced and relocated a few years before Baines was caught. The kid was sixteen when she took him and left. Twenty-one when his father was tried and convicted. My sources claim the son attended court every day."
    Eve thought of the small, unassuming man she'd met at Alice's viewing. Son of a monster. How much of that came through the blood? She thought of her own father, nearly shuddered. "I appreciate it. If it comes to anything, I'll owe you."
    "Yeah, you will. I've got lots of data on cults in the city. Nothing as dramatic as this, but it may lead somewhere. Meanwhile, if